They say a man is only as good as his word and if that is the case then Julen Lopetegui really could be in trouble at West Ham.
If West Ham lose the next two games heavily, Julen Lopetegui may have one of the shortest managerial reigns in the club’s 129-year history.
And despite trying to shift focus to Tim Steidten’s transfer dealings, the Spaniard will only have himself to blame.
Succeeding David Moyes was always going to be tough for the 57-year-old.
But West Ham’s style of play and improving on dreadful results since the turn of the year were open goals for any new boss.
So far Lopetegui has blazed them over the bar.
There are so many issues at West Ham it’s hard to pin-point what is the fundamental problem.
If indeed there is just one.
But fingers are increasingly pointing to the midfield and striker department as being nowhere near what is needed.
Or indeed what was promised.
After West Ham’s defeat to Forest, fans were left saying the same thing; the team looks old, slow and lacking in dynamism, athleticism and energy.
Broken promises and a broken team at West Ham
The midfield in particular has been labelled ‘geriatric’ – a hodge podge mix of players who have no power or pace and don’t complement each other at all.
Up front the Hammers have three striker options with a combined age of nearly 98.
Two of them are not deemed up to Premier League standards anymore in the shape of Danny Ings and Michail Antonio.
The other, new signing Niclas Fullkrug, made just three substitute cameo appearances in the league before proving fans were right to question the wisdom of signing an injury-prone 31-year-old.
Because he’s been out for two months and counting with a serious Achilles and calf issue.
Here in lies the club’s biggest problem as far as many supporters are concerned.
West Ham’s rebuild has somehow seen them go from the Premier League’s second oldest squad last season to the oldest.
Now The Athletic have proved Lopetegui told a bare-faced lie on joining West Ham as a journalist slams the Hammers boss.
When West Ham were weighing up who to bring in as a replacement for Moyes, a big factor for supporters was a track record of using young players.
Hammers fans are rightly proud of the club’s Academy of Football roots.
Athletic prove Lopetegui told bare-faced lie at West Ham
But a rich history of bringing through top young talent has waned in recent years.
It is why the prospect of hiring Ruben Amorin or Paulo Fonseca really excited West Ham’s fanbase.
The appointment of Lopetegui underwhelmed.
But his words and those of Spanish journalist Guillem Balague saw many warm to the idea.
Balague said Lopetegui learned a lot from his time with the great Johan Cruyff at Barcelona.
That football should be about entertainment and spectacle not just results. And, better still, cultivating young talent.
“With Lopetegui what you’re going to have is… a team that will be energetic, physical, direct – not direct as in long ball, not at all – but everybody attacking, everybody defending, with high tempo, quick transitions – both offensive and defensive – a team that will be modern to look at with different layers, different ways to attack, building from the back, choosing what to do at the right time…” Balague said.
“What he took from Cruyff is that you have to give spectacle. Football shouldn’t just be about results.
“But also that as long as you are good, you go into the team, it doesn’t matter what age you are. Johan was never scared of putting youngsters in. Like Pep Guardiola at 19 was a regular in the first team at a time when that wasn’t happening in the early ’90s’.
“And it doesn’t matter who you are, if you’re not good enough you have to go. That kind of ruthlessness you will get from him…
“He’s the man with the right values.”
The man himself also pledged to bring through young players.
There were several young players in the first team squad in pre-season. That led fans to believe the manager would be looking to finally give some of the Academy’s brilliant young stars a proper chance.
Especially as the Hammers have started losing far too many to rival clubs as they get frustrated by a lack of clear pathway to the first team.
Hammers boss pledged to integrate Academy stars
“We are trying to know more about the young players that we have, for sure,” Lopetegui told West Ham’s website in July.
“They are helping us a lot because we have started pre-season without nine first-team players. Right now we have 14 Academy players with us, so the Academy players are working very hard and helping us to be competitive every day.
“Every day we want good help from the young players and this ambition to stay in the first team is always good for us, but I won’t name any individual names. They’re all working very well and hopefully one of them is going to help us during the season.”
So a new revelation from The Athletic proves Lopetegui has not been true to his word.
Despite a leggy, ageing squad that isn’t putting in performances or getting results, the Spaniard has continued to shun the Academy.
The outlet has published a chart showing the number of minutes played by club-trained players in the Premier League this season.
The findings are damning for Lopetegui and a disgrace to the club’s Academy roots.
Not only do West Ham have the highest average age in the entire top flight at 28.8, a shocking zero per cent of the players used are club-trained.
Only three other clubs have that same appalling figure next to their names – Brentford, Wolves and Fulham.
Shocking stat makes ’embarrassing reading’ for Lopetegui
Lopetegui cannot even argue there isn’t the talent pool to pick from.
The Under 21s are doing well this season despite eight of the academy players being sent out on loan.
Telegraph journalist and Hammers fan Dan Silver says it makes ’embarrassing reading’ for the under pressure manager and the club. Particularly after the head coach pledged to champion youth.
“Embarrassing reading for West Ham and Lopetegui, who was heralded as a champion of youth when he signed,” Silver said.
“Said it before but the club will always struggle to compete if it has to import all of its talent rather than nurture it from within.”
It’s not like there are no young stars putting their cases forward for a chance either.
West Ham won their first FA Youth Cup in 24 years just last summer, beating Arsenal 5-1 for good measure in the final.
The game saw over 9,000 West Ham fans travel to the Emirates.
The last time it happened when Joe Cole and co were emerging, supporters were so engaged and invested they sold out Upton Park to watch the Hammers beat Coventry 6-0 to secure a 9-0 aggregate victory.
If that doesn’t tell the club something about what supporters want to see then nothing will.
Lopetegui pledged to give young talent a chance.
Yet here West Ham fans are watching old, slow players on big wages being persisted with.
Two of them have even already expressed their desire to leave the club in January after just six months.
With so many underperforming players in the team this season, there is no excuse for Lopetegui not integrating youngsters.
How else will West Ham ever grow or find out if they are good enough.
Goodness knows the team needs some youthful exuberance and players who care about the badge.
Lopetegui is just like all the rest it seems. And it will be his downfall if he doesn’t address the issue soon.
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